"As I have made clear so often in the past with every fiber of my being, I embrace my natural heritage and despite having grown up thinking light skin and straight, silky hair were the standards of beauty, I now know that my dark skin and kinky, coily hair are beautiful too.

"Being featured on the cover of a magazine fulfills me as it is an opportunity to show other dark, kinky-haired people, and particularly our children, that they are beautiful just the way they are. I am disappointed that @graziauk invited me to be on their cover and then edited out and smoothed my hair to fit their notion of what beautiful hair looks like.

"Had I been consulted, I would have explained that I cannot support or condone the omission of what is my native heritage with the intention that they appreciate that there is still a very long way to go to combat the unconscious prejudice against black women's complexion, hair style and texture."

The magazine has apologised to the actress and said they hadn't altered the images or asked the photographer to do so, also adding they are "committed to representing diversity throughout its pages.”

Fans were also angry, one wrote:

"You are gorgeous and those natural features make YOU you and make you your own form of beauty. So sorry it wasn't captured on the cover they missed a great opportunity to portray the real you."

Another added:

"Crikey it's not just your hair (which is beautiful in the original) but also the shape of your head- and the heavily altered lights/ tones in your face gives you a plastic mask-like look. The originals are so much more compelling. I think all photographs that have been digitally altered should be labelled as such. That face on the cover isn't you... it's another person's idea of who you are."